Na'ia
by IamAngel624
Summary: Shortly after the events of Leroy & Stitch, Stitch goes to the beach and makes a friend unlike any other he's ever had. Oneshot story.


That Friday, Lilo was at school. Not hula school; elementary school. Plain, boring, dull, tedious, stupid, monotonous, humdrum, commonplace, prosaic, hackneyed, insipid, dreary, dry-as-a-bone elementary school. Well…Lilo just called it "plain ol' boring", and I supplied the synonyms. That's my supercomputer brain for you. Anyways, she was at school, and I was at home, waiting for three o'clock to arrive. It was taking a very long time.

Nani was at work (of course), Jumba was in his lab trying to fix a sudden malfunction in Deforestrator's deforesting powers, and Pleakley was off at some eighty-percent sale at the mall. I was the only one in the house. And I was bored. To. Death. I had already counted the ceiling tiles in the kitchen exactly 3,762 times, watched reruns of Elvis movies on AMC for a couple of hours, and devoured all of the food in the entire kitchen in only 2.7 seconds (I was trying to beat my previous record of 3.2 seconds). Now I was lying on my stomach on top of my bed, staring out the window at a couple of leaves lashing about in the breeze. A stifled a chuckle as I watched a helpless caterpillar cling to one of the leaves, holding on for dear life, and try to eat his lunch at the same time. What a stupidhead-greedygut.

_I could go visit Angel, _I thought, _No, wait...she was going to sing for some sick kids at the hospital today. Man, that upgrade Jumba gave her so that she can heal with her voice is working wonders for our community! What about the gang? Could we get together and hang out today? No...Richter's working, and so is Cannonball. Darn. What about Yin and Yang? Oh yeah...yesterday, Yin said she and Yang were working on some mountains for their island and that it was going to take a couple of weeks. When is Yang going to ask her out, I wonder. Gosh, the weather's nice. I should just go to the beach. _

_But what if Lilo comes home and sees you're gone? Wouldn't she be worried?_

_I'll just leave a note. She's smart, she'll find it._

_But she doesn't know Tantalog._

_I can write "Gone to beach." in English. That's easy. So lay off!_

_Okay, okay, queesta, you don't have to get so mad! And what's up with the mental conversation?_

"_Meega_ just don't know," I sighed aloud. _Maybe I'm losing my mind._

_You probably are._

_Shut up._

_Okay._

And that's how I ended up at _Boojiboo _Cove a few minutes later. The cove was a secret part of the beach that Angel and I found on our first date after we had rescued all of the Cousins from Gantu's ship. We had been walking along through the forest when we came upon a mile-long stretch of white, untouched sand. A row of rocks starting from the forest and ending about twenty feet offshore blocked off this secret area from the public beaches. A single cave sat right in the middle of the beach, and that, my friend, is where Angel and I first kissed...and, a few weeks later, first made out. But Lilo doesn't know about the "making out" part; don't tell her, please? Anyways, _Boojiboo_ Cove is now a place where Experiment couples go to neck, and where our yearly "Rock-a-Hula" reunion/dance party/surf contest/swim party takes place...only then it's called Rockin' Cove. Don't ask why the name changes, it was Sparky's idea, and no one knows why he thinks the way he does.

I was sitting on top of the jetty, staring at the ocean waves as they surged forward, inching up the sand, then retreated back to the sea. The soft _shhhhhh shhhhhh_ of the waves produced a calming effect on me, and my mind began to wander through my past from one incident to the next: When I was first conscious of life, when I met Lilo, when I died from my malfunctions and was brought back to life by Lilo's love, when I discovered my Cousins, when I met my _boojiboo_ Angel, when I was named Captain of the Galactic Armada, when we all joined together and defeated Leroy (that _queestaed_ pile of _blitsgorp_!), and the such like...but then I heard a sound...

_Fweh._

It came from farther out in the water. My ears automatically perked up, and I tried to pinpoint its exact location...

_Fweh._

There! Out near the edge of the jetty! It was a lone dolphin, exhaling the carbon dioxide from its lungs. But...dolphins were never alone. Where was its _Ohana_?

_Fweh._

I started skittering across the jetty towards the dolphin. Curiosity made me forget my fear of water momentarily. Why was this dolphin alone? When I reached the area where I had first seen it, I made my way carefully down to a rock slightly submerged under the water. Clutching it tightly with my long claws, I stood on all fours, staring at the ocean. I could feel the water rippling and swishing around my ankles, and my fear of water began to return. But I couldn't be afraid now. I had to find out about this dolphin. Now, where had it gone…?

_FWEH!_

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. The dolphin had surfaced right next to me, exhaling in my face. This dolphin had a major case of fish-breath.

The dolphin's head rose out of the water to look at me. It was an Atlantic bottlenose, complete with pale gray skin and bright blue eyes. It had gorgeous eyes. _She_, rather, had gorgeous eyes. This was definately a female dolphin; I could smell it.

"_Hello!_" she squeaked. I was startled; I could understand dolphin-squeak perfectly. This was a feat Jumba had never told me I could accomplish!

"**_Um...greetings, na'ia?_**" I said, speaking Tantalog. Lilo had once told me that the Hawaiian word for dolphin was _na'ia_. Why I used it now, I may never know.

"_Naaaaaaaaaa'iiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaa?_" the dolphin squeaked, somehow understanding me, "_How pretty! It is a pretty name! Pretty witty smitty kitty..._" Na'ia danced about in the water as she rattled off every word that rhymed with "pretty", including a few that I think she made up.

"**_My name is Stitch,"_** I said, trying to strike up a conversation.

"_Steetch…? Steetch! Steetch! Steetch!_"

"**_Yes, my name is Stitch!_**"

"_Sinker has spoken to me of you many many times!_"

This was news to me. "**_You know Sinker!_**"

"_Yes indeedy do! He is my friend. He is a great comfort I have since I lost my pod..._" For the first time since I had started speaking to her, Na'ia sounded upset. For a second, I thought she was going to cry (that is, if dolphins can cry).

I didn't mean to make her sad. I tried to cheer her up by doing the first thing that popped into my head: I picked my nose with my tongue.

"_EEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!_" Na'ia squealed, balancing on her tail and swimming backwards through the water. Then, with a graceful leap, she jumped head-first into the water, and popped back up right in front of me.

"_How did you do that?_" she asked, her perky nature returning.

I shrugged. "**_It's just something I can do. I don't know why I do it; I just do._**"

Na'ia giggled and guffawed. "_You are silly. Silly willy nilly. I like you, Steetch. Even though you are not of this planet._"

I cocked an ear in confusion. "**_You know I'm an alien?_**"

Na'ia nodded her head up and down.

"**_And you don't mind? You don't think I'm...you know… wierd?_**"

Na'ia giggled again. "_Of course not! Wierd is normal, and normal is wierd. And something not of this planet is different. Different is good. If everything was the same, where would the fun in that be?_"

I was amazed. When I first met her, I thought this dolphin was just going to be a giggly little creature. Now, here I was listening to some of the wisest and simplist things I had ever heard. It was amazing. Just then, I heard Lilo's voice calling my name.

Na'ia cocked her head to one side. Apparently she heard Lilo, too. "_Is that your human?_"

"**_Yeah,_**" I sighed. I didn't want to leave Na'ia yet; I was having such an interesting conversation. "**_I think I need to go home now._**"

"_So do I,_" Na'ia sighed, "_I must go and hunt for my food, for I am hungry. Shall we meet again?_"

I smiled. "**_Sure!_**"

Na'ia's eyes sparkled, and she waved a flipper at me. "_Good-bye, Steetch! We shall meet again soon!_"

I waved a paw at her. "**_Good-bye, Na'ia!_** **_I'll see you later!_**"

Na'ia nodded, and with a flick of her tail, dove under the surface of the water. She was gone within a few minutes.

I continued to stare at the water where my new friend had dissapeared, until I heard Lilo call out, "Stitch! What are you doing out there?"

Giving the water one last glance, I turned back towards land. "Nothing!" I called out in English, "Just making friends!"

---

I never really told anyone about Na'ia. No one would believe that I had befriended a dolphin, and even if they did believe me they wouldn't understand. Heck, I hardly understand the connection between Na'ia and myself. It isn't like the one I have with Lilo, nor is it like the one I have with Angel, nor is it like the one I have with any of the other Cousins. No, it's more like...she saw into me, and knew exactly what I knew. Maybe that's how she understood Tantalog…I just don't know.

One day, a few days before Lilo's thirteenth birthday, Na'ia found her pod again. They were leaving to find a new home, and Na'ia was going to go with them. I still remember our parting words:

_"Steetch…are you sad? Because I am. I do not wish to leave you."_

_**"I know."**_

_"But…my family…I cannot lose them again…"_

_**"I understand. I really do."**_

_"Steetch?"_

_**"Yes, Na'ia?"**_

_"Please do not cry. I'll come back, someday. I'll introduce you to my entire Ohana!"_

_**"Okay…and I'll introduce you to mine."**_

_"That sounds fun! Well, good-bye Steetch. We shall meet again soon."_

_**"Good-bye, Na'ia. I'll see you later."**_

Shortly afterwards, I came home. Lilo asked me why I looked so sad…but I never told her. I couldn't. I'd lost a friend, unlike any I'd had before.

But now, every Friday, I go out to that jetty, and I wait for that familiar _fweh_, or a flick of her flukes. I still remember her voice, squeaking, _"I'll come back, someday."_ And I know she will.

My Na'ia will come back.


End file.
